Group B: In the Eyes of Aris
by maddyofficial
Summary: Group B's experience in the Maze, and my own idea on how Aris came to know Rachel.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I awake to stale air and darkness. The ground is hard and cold like metal. I feel around—walls on all sides. A sense of claustrophobia consumes me. Where am I? I attach myself to every muscle and reflex this body has and muster the strength to stand.

I'm dizzy. If I could see, the world would be spinning. I hear my stomach moan. I'm hungry. Can't remember the last time I ate.

_My name is Aris._ That's all I remember. How old am I? Do I have parents? Where do I live? I don't know. My mind spins in answerless circles.

Another thought: _I have triggered the End._ But what does that mean?

We hit something. There's a huge crash, and the little box I'm in shakes violently. It's the most terrifying sound I've ever heard, like thunder times one hundred. I fall and hit my head on the floor, slip back into unconsciousness.

The light makes orange and crimson splotches on the underside of my eyelids. I don't want to open them—it's much too bright. I hear voices close by. Girls'.

"Ew. It smells down there."

"He's kind of cute."

"What's a boy doing here?"

"I can't see him."

"Stop pushing!"

"Everyone shut up!" The voice is full of authority. It gets very quiet very quick. "Help me get this guy out of here!"

I'm being lifted out of something. It smells of moss and wet grass. Someone has my leg in an irritatingly awkward position, but I'm too weak to do anything about it.

They set me down somewhere nearby, and I hear somebody complain, "He's heavy." I can feel the sets of eyes on me.

"What do we do with him?" one girl asks.

In that moment, I don't know what comes over me. I suddenly feel very crazed and out of control. I stand up unsteadily, wildly, out of nowhere.

"I have triggered the End!" I don't know what makes me say it. And just like that, I am very sleepy. I collapse, and darkness swallows me.

My sanity resurfaces just enough to hear the leader girl say with urgency, "Get him to Rachel. She'll be glad to know he's arrived." Then I'm out, before I can begin to understand anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I'm in a little white bed, where my feet hang over the edge. In fact, it's hardly a traditional bed. Like a pallet. It almost seems like my encounter with the girls was a dream. But I know it wasn't.

I hear the doorknob click, and a girl walks into the room. When she sees me, she quickly runs back out, calling out, "He's awake! He's awake! Rachel!"

I hear another set of footsteps coming closer. A pair of eyes peak around the doorway and then decide it's safe to enter. This girl is pretty—she has long, brown hair pulled back in a braid that runs down the small of her back, olive skin and frosty blue eyes.

I try to speak, to say hello, but nothing comes out. Just a peculiar echo in my head.

The girl seems startled, jerks a little. Then she says, "How did you do that, shank?"

I raise an eyebrow. Shank? Freaky lingo. "Do what?" I try to respond. But nothing comes out of my mouth. Just another echo.

The girl pulls her hair. "Get out of my head!" she screams. "How . . . why are you doing that?" She's trembling.

I don't know what she's talking about. But before I can do anything, she runs out of the room.

What was that about? This place just gets weirder.

It seems impossible, but I sleep some more.

My slumber is filled with disturbing dreams.

In my dream, I am about fourteen. I'm not alone—there's a girl with long, black hair, Teresa. And a boy. Thomas. My dream-self knows them both very well, evidently.

"The Variables are set," says Teresa. "Our work is done."

Thomas shakes his head, as if he can't stand thinking about it.

Teresa pats his shoulder. "The world will thank us for this later."

He sighs. "I know."

I can only see them with my peripheral vision. Besides that, I am staring at a door, waiting for someone.

When the doors open, I recognize the girl who comes in. The name forms in my mind.

_Rachel. _

When I finally wake up again, I am sweating. My eyes dart around the room warily, and then my eyes catch something. It's Rachel again, in the corner, clasping a cup. I sit up and try to calm myself down from the strange memory-dream.

"Where am I?" This time, the words come out of my mouth. No echoes.

She looks up slowly, like she's still unsure about me from earlier.

"Well?" I demand.

She exhales, like she's really not happy about being here. "This is the Glade. They told me to show you around, so that's what I'm gonna buggin' do. But I swear—if you pull any of that creepy telepathy crap on me again, I'll kick your shuck butt. Got it?" She gets up and comes over to my pallet. "Water?"

I realize then that I'm actually very thirsty. And also that this girl is crazy. "Uh, sure." I take the cup from her and gulp it down in seconds.

"Sidonia's the cook around here. We'll head there first, since you're probably hungry?" She says it like a question, so I nod.

"The newbies always are," she says as she heads out the doorway, and I can almost hear the sarcastic smile in her voice.


End file.
